Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this new legislation, the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008. Any legislation or debate on social welfare is important, especially in recessionary times. It is also crucial in terms of how we treat the most vulnerable in our society. That is the key to this debate. I accept that we live in difficult times, but we all have a civic and political duty to support those on social welfare and particularly the weakest sections of society. That is my brief in the Dáil as an Independent Deputy and that is the agenda I have been pushing in the Dáil. I am not going to walk away from those on social welfare, from our senior citizens or from our children in large classes.

In this discussion of the poorer sections of society in disadvantaged areas, I would like to point out that most people in poor areas do not get involved in crime. This is very relevant to the debate and also in the context of the recent horrific murder of Shane Geoghegan in Limerick. I offer my deepest sympathy to his family today and say loud and clear that this terrible, savage murder is not acceptable in any State, any area or any community. Brutality such as this is simply not on and I urge everyone to speak out.

For 25 years I worked in a disadvantaged area in which many families were dependent on social welfare, and the vast majority were not involved in crime and murder. It is important to say that in this debate because some communities are regularly labelled in a negative way. In fact, I would say to the middle classes and the wealthy who take or deal in cocaine that they are a major part of the problem. By feeding their habits they are looking after the market. I urge them to see common sense and realise the connection between their social habits and the murders on our streets today.

With regard to this Bill, we need to look at the facts and consider social welfare in the context of the real world. I welcome the positive aspects of the Bill but, overall, there are many negative aspects. While almost all groups, including people depending on social welfare payments, have experienced an increase in income, the pattern of income distribution has continued to be characterised by a high degree of inequality.

Ireland's income distribution has remained much more unequal than that of any other European state. In terms of unequal distribution, Ireland tops the list. As overall personal wealth grew during the boom, the reality of the extreme concentration of this wealth was often obscured. In 2006, some 20% of the wealth of this country was held by 1% of the population. When the wealth arising from the ownership of a home was excluded the degree of concentration was even greater, with 1% of the population owning 34% of household wealth. Where credit was vigorously marketed by financial institutions, many people met rising living standards expectations by entering into high levels of personal debt, often by availing of unsolicited loans. It is important in this debate that we mention the fact that many banks have been ripping people off for many years.

House building reached record levels but the price of housing increased, locking many out of a chance of becoming home owners and others into ownership on the basis of costly and extended mortgages, often for homes far from their workplaces. There were lengthy waiting lists for social housing. By 2005 this stood at 43,000 households as against 27,000 in 1996, an increase of 52%. Many times more houses were built as second or holiday homes or as investments than were built for social housing.

Although there were improvements in emergency services, some homeless people were unable to obtain emergency accommodation or felt they would be unsafe in the accommodation offered, and so remain on the streets. Even when emergency homeless services responded adequately, as they frequently did, the shortage of social housing and the cost of private rented accommodation made it very difficult for people to move on to a permanent home.

Significant increases in public expenditure on health services failed to make up for the deficits of years of under-investment and many people continue to be denied services or experience long delays in accessing them. However, the Government failed to seize the opportunity presented by economic prosperity to begin to change the inherently unjust structure of a two-tier health system, which I have for many years pushed for in the Dáil. This has a directly negative impact on all those on social welfare.

Despite the many positive developments in the education system, such as inclusion initiatives to address educational disadvantage, stark differences in educational outcomes persist for many children, especially from the poorest areas. I mention this because promised reductions in class size were only partially fulfilled and in recent weeks we have seen what is happening. We must reassert the importance of the values of social solidarity, fairness and compassion. That is the key matter regarding this legislation.

The Bill provides for increases in the rates of social insurance and social assistance payments and improvements in family income supplements. It also provides for certain amendments to the social welfare code, as announced in budget 2009, including to PRSI. The Bill further provides for amendments to other Acts, including the Pensions Acts 1990-2007, the Civil Registration Act 2004 and the Citizens Information Acts 2000-07. In Part 2, amendments to the Social Welfare Acts, sections 3 and 4 provide for increases in the rates of social welfare payments and these include an increase of €7 per week for recipients of pensions. This increase is unacceptable.

Some other Deputies have said this is an excellent budget but let them examine the facts, the detail and how it was handled. They should ask the elderly, disabled and social welfare recipients how they feel about the budget. I want to deal with the domiciliary care allowance issue. I was one of those who lobbied the Minister hard for days. She listened to the submissions on the domiciliary care allowance and climbed down in the end. She also had the opportunity to listen to Down Syndrome Ireland, Inclusion Ireland and many other Deputies who pushed this issue. It is important that people realise putting on pressure delivers results, as we have seen on many other issues.

The National Council for the Blind is extremely disappointed the Government has failed to adequately protect the interests of blind and vision impaired people in the recent budget. In its pre-budget submissions it made the case for above-inflation rises to a range of benefits and allowances that would protect the people it works with from the spiralling costs of inflation. Although this is a key issue, there is no talk in this debate on inflation. With 50% of those the council works with over the age of 65, the withdrawal of the medical card for the over 70s was clearly a major concern for many blind people and legislators. Although the increase in the thresholds announced on 21 October will ensure that 95% of that population retain this key benefit, the concern and confusion caused by the controversy unsettled many people and caused them unnecessary worries about the affordability of their health care. This is particularly relevant to people with disabilities.

The National Council for the Blind also perceives a similar tampering with the medical card scheme benefits between local areas throughout the country. Some HSE regions refuse to pay for vital low-vision aids while in other HSE areas the same items are covered by the scheme. A recent report published by the main organisation providing services to blind and visually-impaired people found that 30,000 people in Ireland live with significant sight loss because they wear no prescription glasses or the wrong ones. This is a national scandal. With the number of people in Ireland who are blind or visually impaired expected to increase by more than 170% over the next 25 years, it is crucial that the Government encourage and enable people to proactively manage their eyesight and prioritise their eye health. This will require increased investment and a consistent nationwide approach instead of regional variations. It is very important I mention these issues.

I am fearful that while spending on disability services is being presented as 2% of the total health spending in 2009, in real terms we face a cut of between 4% and 6%. Cuts at this level are intolerable to our sector, which experienced a reduction in spending of over €31 million last year. It is impossible for the disability sector to observe a massive cut in funding without its having a significant impact on the quality and availability of services that will provide for those in greatest need of support in the community.

It is important we examine the details of the legislation and stand up for the poorer sections of society and those on social welfare. Society is people. Without people there is no society. I urge everybody to join in the attempt to redevelop respect, trust and community spirit by insisting on people-centred policies and actions. Sadly, this legislation is not in line with that ethos.

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